Trench Lighter

[analog_kidd]

For some reason, I've been on an antique lighter kick lately. Specifically, I've been looking for something called a trench lighter. These things have a bit of history, and got their start from soldiers making them from spent bullets. They would put a little shield on them to hide the flame so an enemy would not see the flame at night. Companies took the idea and started making them in production for sale.

You can see that as you slide up the outer sleeve, the cap folds over. This one is in pretty good condition and looks pretty new. I'm going to keep looking for more, and hope to find one with an older looking brass patina. There are several manufacturers. This one is a Bowers, made in Kalamazoo, Michagan

 

 

[Garufa]

That's pretty cool.  I used to carry around a reproduction trench lighter a long time ago.

[Raoul]

53 minutes ago, Garufa said:

That's pretty cool.  I used to carry around a reproduction trench lighter a long time ago.

Me too. It was good for uhh, cigarettes. Yeah that's it...cigarettes.

[56FordGuy]

That's pretty neat. I have a few old lighters, but nothing quite like that.